WHAT'S NEW IN FIREWORKS

WHAT'S NEW IN FIREWORKS; Lighting the Night Skies for a Banner Year

By John H. Arundel

Published: July 2, 1989

For several hours this Fourth of July, the skies will light up with a spray of fireworks - from $50,000 public displays to backyard sparklers and fountains.

This year, in fact, is expected to be a banner year for the fireworks industry. Fireworks by Grucci Inc., a leading exhibiter based in Brookhaven, N.Y., will put on 90 shows on the Fourth and 350 by the end of the year, up from 200 in 1980.

The fireworks business has taken off like a bottle rocket. This year, Americans are expected to spend about $200 million on fireworks, compared with about $50 million in 1976, which as the nation' bicentennial was a big year for displays, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a trade group. Backyard fireworks of the Roman candle and sparkler stripe should account for $130 million of that total, not including bootlegged varieties and fireworks sold in states that outlaw them - a vast underground market.

''Business is booming,'' said John A. Conkling, executive director of the association, which represents 50 exhibiters like Grucci and 100 or so purveyors of ''Class C'' backyard fireworks. ''Since the Bicentennial, many communities have rediscovered the fun of fireworks displays.''

The boom is also bred by competition. During the mid-1980's, many cities canceled fireworks displays when insurance coverage became prohibitive. Competition among the small fraternity of exhibiters - dominated by three families, the Gruccis, Zambellis and Souzas - flared up. Some exhibiters began lining up corporate sponsors for cities that otherwise could not shoulder the cost. And to lure cities away from rivals, exhibiters began modernizing, relying on computers and new firing techniques to make shows more sensational.

''There's a tremendous rivalry,'' said George Plimpton, the honorary fireworks marshal of New York City and author of ''Fireworks: A History and Celebration.'' ''They are constantly looking for new ways to delight the public.''

Sales of backyard firecrackers have also surged but would be less spritely if regulators were more effective. While Federal enforcement officials have confiscated some Class C fireworks that fail to comply with safety standards - not to mention bootleggers they close down every year - they lack the resources to snuff them out entirely. Enforcement of laws by the 48 states that ban the sale of some or all Class C fireworks is also spotty.